Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in the Media |
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Authors: | Dana Fennell Michael Boyd |
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Institution: | 1. University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USAdana.fennell@usm.edu;3. Jones County Junior College, Ellisville, Mississippi, USA |
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Abstract: | Scholars have long been concerned that mass media depictions of those with mental disorders foster stigma. Research is needed extricating how particular disorders are represented and perceived, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This article examines what images of obsessions and compulsions exist in the media, and how persons interpret these. It employs two methods: qualitative in-depth interviews and content analysis. Data indicate the media represents obsessions and compulsions in distinguishable ways that both reinforce and complicate common media stereotypes of those with mental disorders—fostering a stigma hierarchy and having contradictory effects on mental health literacy. |
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